


The Fire of the Sith

by BurntKloverfield



Series: Scenes from a Sweeter Space [4]
Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Adoption, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Summer Camp, Fourth of July, Gen, Stable Children, camping shenanigans
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-04
Updated: 2020-07-04
Packaged: 2021-03-04 20:07:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,660
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25082116
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BurntKloverfield/pseuds/BurntKloverfield
Summary: Ben and Rey send their adopted children up to summer camp, the same one that they perform at every Fourth of July. Little do they know, Ben's camping years have sprouted up the Knights of Ren, a group of campers who may very well burn the whole camp down.
Relationships: Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Series: Scenes from a Sweeter Space [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1202305
Comments: 6
Kudos: 11





	The Fire of the Sith

**Author's Note:**

> I am literally posting this while watching fireworks.
> 
> This is also a sequel to Force of July, so go read that first.

"Have you three ever been to summer camp?" Ben asked suddenly, looking up from his dinner.

His and Rey's three adopted children looked at each other, shaking their heads. Arashell, Oniho, and Temiri had only been in Ben's and Rey's custody for a few months since their former foster parents could no longer care for them, but the three had melded with Rey and Ben into a unified family. Fostering and adopting children was never easy, but they were figuring it out. It was a challenge to care for one 10 year old, let alone three 10 year olds who were as mischievous as Ben and Rey themselves. They tried to balance doting on them and doting on each other and their work and their hobbies and the children's school and the children's activities. They were good kids, but they had gone from being the next door neighbors they would visit or engage in snowball or water balloon fight over their shared fence to being together nearly 24/7 and their friends now being responsible for them.

At the question, Rey lit up and beamed at Ben. Since their first summer together, it had been a tradition to go up to Ben's childhood summer camp over the Fourth of July. They would do a light show for the campers, all Star Wars themed. Rey knew when she married Ben that he was a nerd, a massively huge nerd, into Star Wars and Lord of the Rings, with calligraphy being his hobby art of choice. It still hadn't prepared her for that first year together where he had pressed a purple toy lightsaber into her hands, stuffed her in a life jacket beneath impressively accurate Jedi robes, and roleplayed an epic fight between the light and the dark over the lake.

Since then, each year together had gotten grander, with overarching stories and intricate choreography. They were exceptionally excited for this year's show. Rey had her own customized lightsaber and had properly learned how to swim. Rey and Ben couldn't wait to share this part of their lives with their children.

"No, none of us have," Temiri said before shoveling a heaping spoonful of mashed potatoes into his mouth. "What happens at summer camp?"

"You've seen the movies, Tem," Oniho chipped in with a bright smile. "You go up into the woods, pitch a tent, and catch Bigfoot."

Arashell rolled her eyes. "Bigfoot is not real."

Rey laughed. "You've all met Uncle Chewie!"

"Chewie's not Bigfoot!" Oniho chuckled.

Ben smiled, and Rey could have swooned, but they were playing, and she had keep her poker face up. "Remind us to ask Grandpa to show us those pictures of Chewbacca out in the woods. He's got all the original Polaroids."

Rey nodded. "All the originals." She looked back to their kids. "But that's not what we're going to be doing up at camp." She glanced at Ben. "Every year, for the 4th of July, we go up to Camp Kashyyk, and we put on a performance for the campers since they don't allow fireworks up there." She smiled mischievously. "Ben's Uncle Luke runs the camp, and Ben went there as a kid."

"He did?" "You did?" "What's it like?" "Have we met Uncle Luke?" "Yeah, he's the hippy with the beard." "No, that's Chewie." "No, the short one."

Ben and Rey smiled at each other as the three chattered on.

* * *

Over the next few weeks, they made sure that the trio had everything they needed for camp. After lots of consideration, they determined that they would send the three up to camp for the full week, and that Ben and Rey would join them Friday, perform on Saturday, the proper 4th of July, and then they would all head home Sunday. 

When that Monday came, they piled the three in their SUV, and Rey was turned around the entire drive, teaching them the most obnoxious camp songs she had found. The trio were all toothy smiles as they sang along with Rey, trying to get as loud as they could. After the fourth repetition of Da Moose Da Moose, Ben gave a pleading look to Rey. They were only halfway there, and he didn’t know how much longer he could handle his three rambunctious children. 

She winked at him and then turned back to the children. “I forgot to tell you about snipes.”

Ben’s shoulders relaxed. “Right. Don’t ever let the other campers or Uncle Luke take you snipe hunting.”

Oniho leaned forward. “We know snipes aren’t real. We’ve seen Up.”

Rey groaned and flopped back into her seat. “First Baby Shark, now Snipe Hunts.”

“What’s wrong with Baby Shark?” Oniho asked.

“It used to be one of the best camp songs,” Ben explained, turning off the freeway and onto a small town road headed up into the mountains. “Right behind Gopher Guts. Until someone decided to make money off of it.”

“Baby Shark’s a camp song?” Arashell questioned, braiding her hair to make sure the elastics won’t fall out. 

“It used to be,” Rey sighed. She perked up. “I expect you all to give Luke a run for his money. We won’t be with you until the weekend, so it’s up to you to pull all the pranks!”

Ben laughed, and the three were already beaming at each other. 

“I put a few snack packs of peanut butter in your bag, Arashell,” Rey said. “Keep them in the ziploc bag though. There are bears up there. They were for snipe hunts, but you’ll have to come up with some different thing to hunt for.”

“How about Mothman?” Ben suggested. 

“Wrong mountain range, Ben,” Rey snorted. 

“Well, why not Bigfoot?” Oniho piped up.

Rey beamed back. “That’s perfect.”

“But what would you do with them?” Temiri asked. 

Rey was back on her knees, facing backwards. “So, you blindfold the person you’re taking hunting, and you have the peanut butter with you, and you have them hold their hands together and put their fingers out so it looks like they’re holding a gun.” Rey demonstrated how, putting her hands up in the air, like she was pretending to be a secret agent. 

Ben glanced at her and winked and went back to looking at the road. 

Rey smiled back. “Then, you take them and spin them around in the middle of the woods, and you tell them to go ‘bang bang’ like their hands are a gun, and after a few times, you shove their fingers in the peanut butter!”

“Ew gross!” Oniho snorted. 

“They’ll probably smell the peanut butter,” Ben cut in, chuckling himself. “So you tell them that it’s bait.”

“Ooh, good point,” Rey nodded appraisingly. She bounced on her knees. “I also stuck yarn in your bag, with your pocket knife. TPing the camp has been overdone, and it makes the worst mess, especially if it rains. Just don’t mess with the toilet paper. Yarn is more interesting anyways, and Luke might leave it up.”

“Just don’t be cruel when you’re playing your tricks,” Ben reminded. “or get caught. The other kids are up there to have fun, too.”

“Okay, Ben.” Arashell nodded, turning to look out the window as they headed up into the mountains.

“Do you think you’ll ever call him dad?” Oniho asked. 

“Well, you don’t.”

“Should we?” Temiri asked.

Rey slowly turned to face forward as the trio dissolved into their own chatter. 

“Well, maybe one day,” Arashell mused. “They have adopted us.”

“I could see calling Rey mom.” Temiri leaned forward and tapped Rey’s shoulder. “You wouldn’t mind if we called you mom?”

“Whatever you’re comfortable with, Tem,” Rey assured. “We could always be Ben and Rey, or we could be mum and dad.”

“Mum?” Oniho echoed her accent.

Rey laughed. “Mom,” she said with an emphasized vowel. “Mum. Mumther. Mother Dearest. Mama. We’ve told you you really can call us whatever you’d like.”

Temiri nodded. “Do you guys mind if I call you Mom and Dad to other people? Like up at camp? This is the first time going somewhere, and I don’t have to say that I’m an orphan.”

Oniho and Arashell looked at each other with bright eyes. 

Rey looked back at them, smiling with all the understanding of her own childhood passed between foster homes. “You can most definitely call us Mom and Dad to other people.”

Ben reached across the center console to take Rey’s hand. Rey looked up at him to find that he was getting teary eyed. She didn’t say a word and squeezed his hand. 

* * *

The camp hadn't changed. It didn't from year to year. The entrance gate was still near the lake, as was the main lodge, and the cabins were sprinkled up the mountain side, interconnected with various trails. 

As it was Monday, there were several cars and a bus unloading children for the week. 

Ben parked at the end of a row in the dirt parking lot and turned around to look at the trio who were already unbuckling seatbelts and scrambling for their hats and bags. 

"Hey," he said, catching their attention. "If anything happens, or you just want to come home, or if..." He waved his hand, trying to express himself. "Anyways, you can always call us, and we will be here as soon as we can drive up. You can always call us. You can always come home. There is a phone in the lodge. You know our phone numbers. And we will be back on Friday. But if you need," he waved his hand for emphasis, "anything, please call us."

Rey caught his hand and held it tight in her own. "We will be back for you. Now let's get you off to camp."

They finally flooded from the SUV and threw their duffel bags over their shoulders and gawked at the lake and the lodge and the other campers. 

"Where do we check in?" A man asked behind them, adjusting the child on his hip. The child looked to be too old to still be carried around on a hip, but the man held him naturally, like he weighed nothing, like he belonged there. The child peered at them all with a pair of large dark eyes beneath a ball cap that matched his father's. Ben wondered if the man's eyes matched his son's behind his dark sunglasses. 

"You can follow us. We're headed into the lodge, too," Ben offered. 

"Thank you," he returned with a nod. 

"I'm Ben," he introduced, then ran through the trio's names as they headed up with Rey. 

"I'm Din Djarin. This is Kid." 

Kid waved. 

"Kid," Ben repeated but waved in return. He locked his SUV and started up the trail with Din following, Kid on one hip and his duffel bag on the other shoulder. 

The lodge itself was filled with noise and bustle and activity. The tables were filled with welcome packets, and adults were milling among each other as children ran in and out, and counselors were flitting between it all. 

"Go find your packets," Rey encouraged, and the trio dashed off, glancing over the messy, alphabetized envelopes. "I'm gonna go say hi to Luke."

Ben smiled to Rey and followed the children into the fray. They were of course in the S's, under Solo. Ben peered over their shoulders as they dug into them. They each had a little nametag they were supposed to fill out, a t-shirt with the name of the camp, an agenda for the next week, and their cabin assignments. Ben frowned when he saw that Arashell would be in a different cabin, though he understood why. He worried about them being split up, even though they would be getting too old soon enough to room together anyways. His frown deepened when he saw that the boys were in the same cabin from his own camp days. 

He leaned forward, setting a hand on their shoulders. "That's where I stayed when I came here. Do you mind if I came up and saw it with you?" 

"Let's go!" Temiri insisted, grabbing Ben’s hand and dragging him out, with Oniho grabbing Ben’s hand and trailing after. 

The cabin had more bunkbeds than he remembered, but it also had more markings on the walls than he had put there. 

“Which bunk was yours, Ben?” Oniho asked.

“I had the one by the far window. But there weren’t bunk beds when I was here last. Just single cots.”

Oniho ran across the room to throw his bag on the bottom bunk next to the window. Rolling onto the bed, he found himself face to face with carvings into the logs of the wall. “Kylo Ren?” he read, finger running over the rough lettering.

“That was me,” Ben admitted. “I was a punk when I was here.”

“A punk?” Temiri laughed. 

“When you get a chance, there are pictures in the lodge of the campers every year. You’ll find me.”

Temiri scrambled up onto the top bunk. “How many Rens were there?”

“What do you mean? It was just me.” Ben stepped up on the first rung of the ladder to look at where Tem was pointing at on the ceiling. 

There were names after names after names carved into the wood of the cabin walls and ceilings, each one with a different first name and the last name Ren. Just above the window read a heading of The Knights of Ren.

Ben frowned and nodded. “Well, then…”

“Did you lead the Knights of Ren?” Temiri asked.

“It really was just me. I was a loner. They must have come after.” He reached out and set a hand on Temiri’s knee. “Don’t join any cults up at camp either.”

Temiri held out his hands and waved them, trying to be spooky. “No spoooooooky cults? No human sacrifices?”

“Have you guys been watching horror movies with Rey again?” Ben scolded.

“Don’t worry,” Oniho laughed, reaching out and snatching Ben’s knee. “The only scary stuff we’ll be doing is catching Bigfoot.”

Ben laughed at that and stepped back. “I shouldn’t worry. You’re good kids.” He held out his arms to swing Temiri off of the top bunk and down to the floor. “Alright, we need to go say hi to Luke.”

* * *

The hustle and bustle of the drop off and then all the parents leaving and then dinner and then the first night bonfire left all the kids tired as they made their ways back up to their cabins. When Oniho and Temiri got back to their cabin, they found a small child with large eyes staring up at their cabin. 

“Hey, are you lost?” Oniho asked, setting an arm around his shoulder.

“No. That’s my cabin. They kicked me out.” He turned his large dark eyes up to Oniho. “They called me a bug eyed freak.”

Oniho immediately marched up to the door and shoved it open, or tried to. Something was blocking the door. “Hey! Let us in!”

There was laughter, and the window opened. “Oh poor boys can’t get into the Ren cabin?” A boy’s face leered out from the window.

Temiri frowned. “That’s our cabin, too!”

“Ohhhhhh,” the boy sneered, turning back to talk to the others inside. “That must have been your bags we threw out to the bears.”

“What did you do to our bags???” Temiri shrieked. He reached out to take Oniho’s hand. “Let’s go tell Uncle Luke.”

The boys inside the cabin burst into chortles. “Unnnnncle Luuuuuke!” they crowed. “You’re going to go run to old Uncle Luke? You think that old hippie will do anything?” They burst into laughter again. 

Oniho took in the biggest breath, puffing out his chest as far as he could, filling every inch of him with air. “We’re going to Uncle Luke.” He let out a little bit of air, keeping his chin high. “And if he doesn’t do anything, we’re calling Ben.”

Temiri nodded, and with Oniho in one hand and the large eyed boy in his other hand, they were headed back down to the lodge. 

The building still had lights on, and counselors were picking up from the hectic first day. A couple glanced up when they entered, and one asked if they needed anything. 

“We’re looking for Uncle Luke?” Temiri said.

“Oh, yeah, you’re Solo’s kid, right?” they returned. “He should be in his office.”

They headed back to the office at the back of the lodge, where he was comparing the list of campers that were supposed to be there and the campers that had checked in that day. He glanced up when they knocked on the door, and he smiled at them.

“Good to have you here, Tem, Oni. Who’s your friend?”

They looked to their third large eyed boy. “Kid Djarin.”

Luke nodded. “Right right right. You’re the Mando’s boy. You’re all in the same cabin. I knew you’d end up friends. What can I help you with?”

“We got kicked out of our cabin,” Oniho said dryly. 

Luke frowned. “Did you grab their names?” he asked, already digging into a filing cabinet to pull out a list of who belonged in which cabin. “I didn’t put any of those Ren kids in that cabin this year,” he muttered under his breath. 

“No, but they threw out our bags, too.”

“I couldn’t find mine,” Kid spoke up. “But I saw one of theirs up in the trees.”

Luke sighed. “Alright, let’s get this taken care of.” He stood and grabbed his own flashlight. He stalked out through the lodge, waving for one of the counselors to join them. “Boys, this is Chip Antilles. She’s been at this camp since she was your age. She’s a counselor this year.”

She saluted them, and she followed them out. Most of the campers were still awake, and faces peeked out of cabin doors and windows as they passed by. 

And when they came to the cabin, they found the door wide open with a boy blowing into a harmonica sitting on the front steps. 

“Hi, Luke!” he called, waving. 

Luke gestured to Temiri, Oniho, and Kid. “They say they were kicked out of their cabin.”

“Oh, we didn’t kick them out.” A boy peeked out the door. “This has always been our cabin.”

“No, it hasn’t,” Luke said. “I need all of you to go back to your assigned cabins.”

The other boys inside groaned. “We just unpacked!”

“Pack up and get to your cabins.”

Temiri tugged on Luke’s elbow. “And our stuff?”

He nodded. “And give the boys their stuff back.”

“But we gave it to the bears.”

“Then you had better get it back.” He motioned to the counselor. “Chip, can you take note of which campers these are. They’re going to have an extra set of chores, and no swimming access.”

“Luke! That’s no fair!”

“We’re not doing last year over again. You do not run this place. The only reason you’re here again this year is that I believe that people can change. Including all of you.”

The boys sighed and started packing up. 

“We still need our stuff,” Oniho reminded. 

One of the boys in the cabin grudgingly went out and started scaling the tree besides the cabin. He scrambled up onto the roof and shoved three bags down. 

Luke glanced at the names that Chip had written down and back at the boys. “None of you belong in this cabin. We have three boys here.” He gestured to Oniho, Temiri, and Kid. “Where are the other three that belong to this cabin?”

“I traded bunks with one so he could be with his friend?” One boy said, heading out of the cabin with his duffel over his shoulder. “Do you want me to call him back?”

“Yes, and the same goes to all of you.”

The other boys murmured “yes sirs” as they passed by Luke to go back to their own cabins. 

Luke sighed once they were out of sight. “Chip, let the other counselors know to keep an eye on those boys.”

“Will do, Luke.”

“Sorry about that, boys,” Luke groaned, wiping his face with his hand. “I thought that you’d like to be in the cabin Ben slept in when he was here. Some of the other campers get possessive. Let me know if they bother you any more. But go on and head to bed. Tomorrow is going to be busy.”

* * *

The next day was incredibly busy. They learned CPR and lake safety before they were all dragged across the lake, learning how to canoe and kayak, and that was just the start to the myriad of activities they were put in to keep them busy. It was only at lunch that they finally met up with Arashell, this time with Kid trailing after them. The boys filled their sister in on everything that had happened the previous night.

“They’re so rude!” she said before she shoved a hamburger in her mouth. After a moment of thought and chewing, she swallowed and said softer, “but this means any pranks that we pull we get to pin on them.”

“We’re not doing that,” Oniho said, rolling his eyes. “If we’re pulling any great pranks, we are not letting those jerks take credit for them.”

“Can I help?” Kid asked. “I’m really good at staying out of sight.”

Arashell beamed and nodded. “Yes. In fact, we should pull the first one tonight. Yarn the entire camp,” she said the last part in the quietest whisper. “I’ll meet you at your cabin? Rey put the yarn in my bag. Midnight?”

Chip leaned over their shoulders and whispered, “later if you don’t want to get caught.” 

They jumped and looked up at her. 

She laughed. “I was just passing by. Don’t worry, I won’t tell.” She plopped onto the bench next to Arashell. “I’ll even help you if you want. You said yarning?”

They nodded.

She nodded. “Make sure to bring scissors or pocket knives. You’ll need something to cut the yarn.” She stood and clapped Arashell on the shoulder. “Try closer to one or two in the morning. Most kids are still awake at midnight. They start konking out about then.” She started walking away, but then turned back and called, “Hurry up eating. There’s more stuff planned this afternoon.”

* * *

“Hey, wake up,” Oniho whispered, shaking Temiri awake. “Ready to go?”

Tem rolled over, trying to pick out his brother through the dark. “Why are you waking me up?”

“Yarn.”

Temiri shot up, grinning. “Let’s go.”

Kid sat straight up on his bottom bunk, staring at them with those large glistening eyes. 

“You, too, Kid,” Oniho whispered. 

He jumped out of his bed to follow the boys outside where Arashell was already waiting with Chip Antilles. 

“You ready to do this?” Chip whispered, holding up one of the multicolored skeins of yarn.

They each nodded and set to work, spreading out and tangling yarn between cabins and trees and sign posts and flag poles and outhouses. 

As Arashell was making a loop around a cabin, she heard boys talking. She paused, afraid of being heard herself, but what she heard made her pause anyway.

“I hate this place.”

“You don’t.”

“No, I do. I really do. All the rules. Can’t do anything I want to do. We’re supposed to be so happy all the time. Luke’s this hippie, and we’re supposed to take orders from him. We’re stuck here.”

“You’re just mad cause you got in trouble, again.”

“I shouldn’t have! We’ve been in that cabin every year! He can’t just go and change it!”

“Leave it alone. We’re still the Knights of Ren, even if we’re not in the same cabin.”

“It’s not that, it’s the principle of it all!”

“Just go to sleep, Cardo.”

“Fine, fine, fine. But before we leave, I’m going to tear this place to the ground.”

“Cardo, go to sleep.”

“Fine, fine, fine. G’night, Trudge.”

Arashell frowned, still holding the yarn tight. What did that boy mean? He must have been one of the boys who had tried to take over the boys’ cabin, but that still didn’t make any sense to her. She shook her head and carefully finished wrapping the cabin before heading to the next one, as silent as they could be. 

* * *

Arashell woke up the next morning to shouts and laughter about their camp suddenly becoming a spiderweb. 

She was even more pleased to find that nobody removed any string, except for the ones around the outhouses, on her way down to the lodge for breakfast. 

“It’s awesome!” Kid exclaimed, sitting next to Oniho with a plate of pancakes. 

“Success,” Temiri whispered.

* * *

Hikes were scheduled that day, ranging from little nature hikes for the littlest ones to long sprawling difficult ones for the older campers. 

Chip was in charge of sending them off, and she was divvying up who would be partnered up with who on their treks. “Temiri and Cardo,” she read down the list. “Arashell and Connix. Oniho and Kid.”

At the name, Arashell turned to see who was going to team up with Temiri. The boy looked so sullen and grumpy. No wonder he would say such things.

They were each given little plastic compasses and a map of the area.

“We’re taking attendance at dinnertime tonight!” Chip shouted out. “If you’re not back after that, we’ll come looking for you. If you find the toy lightsabers, you get to keep them!”

The campers grinned at each other, and many were already on their way into the woods, following trails, and their maps.

Temiri held the compass while the other boy, the Cardo, grumpily held the map. 

“So, uh, which way should we go?” Temiri asked when they came to a fork in the path. 

“Do you want to find a lightsaber, or do you want to find the waterfall?”

Temiri looked over Cardo’s shoulder at the map. “There’s no waterfall on the map?”

“Of course there’s not. They don’t want the dumb kids to come up here and drown.” Cardo nodded towards the left trail. “Are you a dumb kid with a lightsaber, or are you going to see something no other kid sees?”

Temiri squared his shoulders. “Let’s go see the waterfall.”

He didn’t regret his decision at first, but after an hour of hiking up steep rocky slopes, he did. He promptly forgot all about his sore legs when he heard rushing water. 

“You hear that?” Temiri asked excitedly. 

“That’s the waterfall, Tem,” Cardo replied. “Not too much farther now.”

They continued through, and almost to the falls, so close that the roar of the waterfall was almost deafening. 

“Wait, stop, look,” Temiri said, pointing into the trees. 

A deer peered back at them. Time stopped as they stared back at each other, the boys and the wildlife. 

“Have you never seen a deer before?”

“It’s amazing,” Temiri breathed.

Cardo looked back to the deer. “It is, isn’t it?”

They stopped and stared at the deer in wonder until at last the deer grew bored and wandered through the trees past them.

“He was so close!” Temiri gasped. 

“That was pretty cool.” Cardo nodded. “Come on, if you liked that deer, you’ll like the falls, too.”

Temiri nodded and followed Cardo through the trees to the waterfall, throwing up a cooling spray. 

Temiri had the biggest grin on his face and started to pull his shirt off. 

“Woah woah woah, you don’t go swimming in that,” Cardo said, putting a hand on Tem’s shoulder. “It’ll drag you under and then down into the lake. They’ll find you dead bobbing in the lake.”

Temiri pulled his shirt down and looked back over the waterfall and the river. “You’re one of the ones who tried to kick me out of my cabin.”

“Yeah? What about it?”

“What are the Knights of Ren?”

“Why? You wanna join?”

“I don’t know.”

“You know Star Wars? That whole Jedi and Sith thing?” Cardo took off his hiking boots and his socks. “The Knights of Ren are the Sith side.” He sat down and put his feet into the river. “There’s a bunch of us.”

Temiri followed suit and took off his own shoes. “Have you seen that light show that Ben and Rey put on every year?” He sat down and stuck his own feet in the water, flinching at the cold.

“Yeah? Best thing about this whole camp. Since we can’t have actual fireworks. It’s too dry. It will make the whole mountainside burn if any of the campfires get out of control. Fireworks would destroy the whole landscape.”

“So, uh, I’m their son.”

Cardo leaned back to look at him and whistled. “Didn’t know they had a kid.”

“They have three. Me, and Oniho, and Arashell. We’re adopted.”

Cardo nodded and looked back to the waterfall. “Good for you.”

“Anyways, they were talking about it, the light show they do. And they were including the Sith this year.”

Cardo spun back to look at Temiri. “Which one???”

“Palpatine?”

Cardo leaned forward. “You have to tell me more!”

Temiri smiled and shook his head. “You shouldn’t have tried to kick me out of my cabin.”

* * *

When they got back down to camp, Oniho was immediately at Temiri’s side. 

“It was so gross, man! You wouldn’t believe it! I couldn’t believe it! Kid! That Kid! Ahh!” He put his hands to his forehead and spun around. “We went up and started following the river, and you know what we found?” He held out his hands so that he could show how big it was. “A frog! That big! A frog! And Kid just ups and snatches it.” He made a snatching motion. “And you know what he did! He shoves it in his mouth!” He mimicked how Kid had shoved the frog in his mouth, and everyone listening winced and made faces. 

“What’s wrong with that?” Kid perked up. “It tasted fine!”

“Ewwww,” Arashell laughed, wrinkling her nose.

* * *

The rest of the week passed in a blur, with every minute occupied. Cardo and his Knights of Ren didn’t bother them anymore, but he sometimes waved back at Temiri when they crossed paths. 

At last, Friday came, and so did Ben and Rey. There were hugs around. The trio told them everything that had happened over the week, all of the jokes, showed how far the yarn spider web went, even though it was still up after a week, told them all about everything that Kid got into, how Kid happened to be adopted, too. 

Temiri made sure not to say anything about the Knights of Ren or what had happened on that first night. He didn’t know how, especially now that he and Cardo seemed to be friends. 

When Saturday evening came, the Fourth of July, Ben and Rey took their children to the side just as it was starting to get dark. 

“Are you ready to join the Dark Side?” Ben asked.

Temiri suddenly perked up. “Do you have a costume for my friend? Let me go grab him!” 

He ran from the edge of the lake, past all the campers already heading down to see the light show. He tried finding Cardo at the lodge, but it was already cleared out. He dashed to Cardo’s cabin, which was also empty. He spun around wondering where he would be. He caught sight of something moving, and he dashed after it. That was Cardo, fiddling with a lighter as he made his way up towards the river.

“Hey, why aren’t you down at the river yet?”

Cardo shook his head and kept walking. “I’m not going to come back next year. I wanted to…”

“Why not? Why aren’t you going to come back next year?”

Cardo shook his head again and lit the lighter to stare at the flame. 

“You’ve got to come back next year! Maybe we can be in the same cabin together.” Temiri shook his head. “That’s not why I’m here. We’re about to start. And this year, we’ve got an extra costume. I’m going to be a sith. You can come be a sith, too.”

Cardo looked up at him.

Temiri was suddenly distracted by something over his shoulder. “Look!” he whispered. “The deer came back.”

Cardo spun and saw the deer walking down to the river to drink. “Well, look at that.”

“Come on, Cardo, let’s go! I want to be a sith. We’ll be secret Knights of Ren,” he said with the toothiest grin. 

“Alright, Tem, let’s go be Knights.”

They ran back down to the lake, dodging the yarn crisscrossing Camp Kashyyk. 

“Hurry! Put these robes on!” Arashell ushered, tossing the costumes to Cardo and Temiri. They were bright red, and their plastic weapons were as menacing as any lightsaber. 

Suddenly, a dark robed man with a wrinkled plastic mask of Palpatine stepped out of the shadows. He pulled up the mask, and Luke smiled beneath it. “Excited?”

Cardo looked back to Tem and nodded, beaming himself. “Put on the mask.”

Temiri nodded, putting his red helmet on and pulling the red fabric of the praetorian guard costume up. 

* * *

The Star Wars fan fare began, and Luke playing Palpatine stalked out onto the pier, his praetorian guard of Arashell, Oniho, Temiri, and Cardo behind him. He pulled a lightsaber hilt from a pocket in his robe, held it out, and extended it, but the light revealed that it was a fishing pole instead. The campers rolled with laughter.

Then, Ben descended down the far edge of the lake, and he ignited his crossguard saber, with all the intimidation of Kylo Ren. 

“Where’s the girl?” he shouted over the lake and the music. “She is strong in the Force! Stronger than she knows! She will join me! She will take my hand this time!”

Running footsteps descended through the campers seated on the bank. Rey appeared, flashing her own lightsaber, a modified double ended purple one. It fit her magnificently. Ben was so proud of her once she had shown off her own creation. 

“I’ll never join you, Kylo Ren!” she yelled, skidding to a stop at the water’s edge.

“I offered you my hand once. You wanted to take it. Why didn’t you?”

“You could have killed me,” Rey shouted back. “Why didn’t you?” 

A chorus of ooh’s echoed through the crowd. A single camper yelled, “Hey! You two should kiss!” Laughter bubbled, but Rey paid them no mind. 

The drones over head with the strings of lights swirled in the air to the Star Wars soundtrack, bathing them in alternating shades of red and blue. 

Rey jumped into a nearby boat and paddled herself to a platform that was floating in the water. She had learned how to swim. She was no longer afraid of falling in. Ben had already made it there, and he was stalking the edge, flourishing his saber. Rey was about to scamper aboard on her own, but Ben thrust out his hand to her. 

"I told you, the next time I offer you my hand, you'll take it."

"Take his hand! Take his hand! Take his hand!" the campers shouted. 

Rey slowly reached out her hand, and the moment her palm met his, he took hold, lifted her easily up onto the platform, and brought her into his arms. 

"Take off that mask," she said. "You don't need it."

"And who do you think you'll see when I take it off?"

"The face of my true love."

Ben couldn't have been faster at removing the plastic helmet and dropping it to the wooden platform. The moment he was free, Rey kissed him. There were whistles and wolf howls. 

"Rey! We meet at last!" Palpatine called out over the lake, now descending into a boat with the help of his red clad guards. "It has been too long. I finally get to meet..." He paused so long for such a dramatic effect, letting the music reach its climax. "My granddaughter."

Gasps from the campers. The lighting went red. The Imperial March began to play. 

"No!" Rey shouted. She jumped into the water. 

"No!" Ben shouted, holding out his hand to where she disappeared into the water, but she quickly resurfaced. "Don't go to him! He can't be!"

Rey swam through the lake to Palpatine's ship, and the praetorian guardians helped her up inside. She ignited her double ended saber, and this time, the blades were red. They lit up her face, and from up close, Oniho found her terrifying. Arashell, though, immediately thought 'I want to be her.'

"Join me, Granddaughter," Palpatine crowed, holding out his own hand. "Be the empress you're destined to be. Do not be afraid of who you are."

"I'm not afraid," she said, before pushing her saber into him, artfully hiding the blade in his cloak.

"Nooooo!" Palpatine cried, and Rey shoved him into the lake. 

She turned to the four guards, who were now surrounding her, brandishing their weapons. 

"Bow to your empress!"

"No!" Ben cried, still on the platform. It was his turn to jump in the water and swim his way to the boat. 

The guards though had bowed before Rey, waiting for Ben to come. They offered him no help, instead, turning on their weapons, and shivers ran up their backs as they buzzed to life. 

Ben stood to his full light, igniting his saber. But his normally crackling red was a gorgeous steady blue. The cheers from the crowd were crazy. Ben shrugged towards the crowd and turned back to attack the guards. He made quick work of them, making sure that each one was gently laid down in the boat when he struck them down. 

"Good job, I'm proud of you," he whispered to each one. 

He again stood to face Rey. 

"I don't want to fight you!" 

Rey laughed cruelly. "You asked me to join you. This time, I'm asking you to join me." She held out her hand. 

"Not like this. Never like this."

They started into a dance, battling each other, spinning around the boat, careful not to tread on the children in their boat. But they were as dramatic as ever. 

They were finally locked together, each hand holding the other's and their light sabers shimmering. 

The music swelled, changing from the tense battle to a twinkling melody. And Ben surged forward, capturing her lips. Across the Stars played as it always did every year. 

Then, the saber in Rey's hand shimmered, and the red turned back to its purple. 

"You saved me."

"This war isn't about fighting what we hate," Ben said, repeating the line their friend Rose said over and over, "it's saving what we love." 

The triumphant finale fanfare played, and the spotlights on them went dark, leaving the twinkling star like lights to ripple across the dark sky. 

The campers cheered, and suddenly a single red spotlight shone down on the pier where Palpatine was standing, hand outstretched towards the boat holding the star crossed lovers. 

"This will be your downfall! I will be back!" 

At that, the lights all went dark again. A moment of silence, and the campers burst into wild cheers. 

"Big foot! Bigfoot!" Someone yelled from the bank. 

"Hey, it's only Chewbacca!" a gruff voice answered. 

"Hey, it's your father," Rey laughed. "He and Chewie must have come to see the show."

* * *

The following morning, everyone was packing to go home, and the campers were swapping phone numbers and email addresses. Cardo found Temiri who was standing by as Rey and Ben were chatting with Din Djarin and an excitable Kid as they talked all about their yearly star wars show on the lake. 

"Hey, here's my email," Cardo said, pressing a paper into Temiri's hands. "I think I will come back next year, but just so I can be in this show with you guys."

"I'll count on it."

**Author's Note:**

> So if you didn't catch it, Cardo is an angsty butt who really needed a friend and who needed to be reminded of what he loves about camp. He's one of the Knights of Ren but kidified. 
> 
> And Kid is the Child/Baby Yoda! I had so much fun with him!
> 
> Anyways, Happy Force of July!  
> Looking for more? Check out my [profile](https://archiveofourown.org/users/BurntKloverfield/profile) or my [Reylo Ficlets.](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/ReyloFiclets)


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